Made it to the art-deco Atlas statue in NYC at Rockefeller Center just before twilight to snap this shot with the blue sky, chromed bronze, and orange backlight. I’m a big fan of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and of course the image of Atlas on the cover of that book is hard not to think of when standing in this spot in New York City. Sales of this masterpiece refuse to slow down decades after it was printed.
When we spent a whole Sunday visiting the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai it was one amazing pavilion after another. From the outside, Iceland’s was one of the coolest.
Captured these two shots while walking in Shanghai and Rome. Newspapers are opened to every page and thumbtacked to the board and encased in glass so anyone walking by can read them. Two countries – same dissemination of news. Want a different source of news? – Gotta find a different street.
Spent a few days on Santorini in 2010. This is a shot of the town of Oia on the North side of the island. It’s the classic Greek island jet set village. The hotels here have ridiculous views of the Mediterranean. Was lucky enough to catch the light just so as the sun went down and the moon came up – the whole world there becomes a deep blue with light reflecting off all the white houses. Make this a place to check out before you die.
The Bund in Shanghai is a must-walk edge of town – it’s where the classic view of the other side of the Pudong bolts up from the ground and looks like something out of the Jetson’s when the sun goes down. This shot however is what’s behind you when you’re looking across the river (There are some excellent bars and restaurants here but hidden from sight and often with not even a sign on the door). What I like about this shot though is that it’s in color and really the only color here are the five red flags flying overhead. That’s is good metaphor for a lot of China, somewhat dreary at times with huge pops of color and life.
This is one of my favorite shots of of Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai from my hotel rooftop. Just before heading out for dinner I decided to go to the rooftop to see the view and what a view it was. Dubai is hands down one of the more interesting cities on Earth and a mix of so many different things it’s sort of hard to describe. It’s fast, slow, futuristic, ancient – a real unique kind of a city. It has that Star Wars other planet vibe going on…..
I first went to Italy in Fall of 1989 and by 1990 I had a good part of Rome down. Everyone shoots a photo of Piazza di Spagna but for some reason I shot this from far away down Via dei Condotti and the black and white with the heavy shade in the street only added to the effect of the shot. The thing about Rome is that just around almost every corner you run into a huge piazza or temple that you couldn’t even know was there until you’re practically on top of it (the Pantheon is another example). In 1990 we thought the future had already arrived but looking at this now 22 years later this shot seems to me to be straight out of another time. This shot could have easily been 1950 as much as 1990 and that is one of the seductions of Rome. If you’re hungry for more on Rome, here’s a recap of three days I spent there last year.
This is a shot I took while on Nathan Road in Kowloon. I love the difference between the street level and the upper floors as it goes from neons and colors to rough and tough. This is a main street and a great place to cut over to the water front.
Just another shot I popped of Rush from the Atlanta Time Machine Tour. This band gets better with time – the level of skill on that stage is off the chart. Love the color of that guitar too….
